WANNA WIN THE FFUK LEAGUE – PART 3

WANNA WIN THE FFUK LEAGUE? PART 3

For some of you the top spot in the FFUK League must feel so distant, so out of reach, that you’re contemplating conceding defeat and downing tools – DON’T (become a ‘ghost’ team)!!

For a few of you, it is in within touching distance and you still believe it is well within the realms of your capabilities.

Whilst the vast gaggle of those languishing within the middle it is merely a fanciful dream!

Wherever you are, it isn’t too late, we’re just over half way and the majority of FFUKer’s still have all their Chips and second Wildcard intact, you must continue to BELIEVE and try to the very end…

WANNA WIN THE FFUK LEAGUE – PART 1 concentrated on 16 Golden Rules; being ‘golden’ means most are timeless and therefore always relevant! Let them help guide your decision-making processes…

WANNA WIN THE FFUK LEAGUE – PART 2 looked at the scoring breakdown required to be a Champion…

PART 3 is going to pick up where Part 2 left off and continue to analyse those that represent greatness…

We previously deduced that to win the FFUK League you need to be scoring (on average) 62 points a week.

Currently, only the top 5 FFUK Players are above this average and thus, are on course to lift the coveted trophy *

• 1st Lawrence Sprigings (65.1),
• 2nd Nick Johns (62.8),
• 3rd Mark Storrar (62.6),
• 4th Jordan Davison (62.4),
• 5th Neil Stewart (62.1)

* Please note, more importantly than any trophy the prize for winning the FFUK league is £400 in hard cash!! 😊 For the prize breakdown this season click here

To (FFUKing) better oneself, isn’t to find the answer within, oh no – it is to jump on a (FFUKing) bandwagon and copy he who is more successful!

So that is what one must do!!

Unsurprisingly, the FABULOUS-FIVE at the top of our league ALL HAVE A LOT IN COMMON, which no doubt is the reason they’re occupying such lofty positions.

To be like them we need to better understand them; and then, when we understand them, we can copy them!

Let’s critique their endeavours thus far…

They’re very good at picking the right player to captain

Successful captain selections: –

LS – 77%, NJ – 72%, MS – 86%, JD – 77%, NS – 77%.

Selecting the correct captain is never an arbitrary decision, it is informed and measured but is largely based on good fortune. Are they lucky or clever?? Probably a bit of both!!

Let’s look for more tangible guides…

They seldom take ‘Hits’

They have made the following number of transfers over the past 21 GW’s: –

LS – 20, NJ – 21, MS – 21, JD – 20, NS – 20.

You regular HIT takers out there probably want to change your cavalier strategy!

These restrained guys at the top average (their ‘allocated’) one transfer a week!

They ALL predominately play a 3-4-3 formation.

The number of GW’s 3-4-3 has been deployed: –

LS – 10, NJ – 14, MS – 13, JD – 11, NS – 12.

3-4-3 also scores them more points than when they opt for ‘other’ formations.

It does make sense! More Midfielders and Attackers on the pitch…

… and it is their Midfielders and Attackers who score the most points for them.

Average points per position, per match: –

LS – GK (4.1), Def (4.5), Mid (6.7), Att (7.4)

NJ – GK (3.3), Def (5.0), Mid (6.8), Att (6.4)

MS – GK (4.2), Def (4.6), Mid (6.7), Att (6.3)

JD – GK (4.1), Def (5.0), Mid (6.6), Att (6.2)

NS – GK (3.3), Def (4.8), Mid (5.8), Att (7.5)

Without wanting to advocate the neglection of the GK and DEF positions, it does suggest money should be concentrated on getting a strong MIDFIELD and ATTACK!!

They don’t leave many points on the bench

Average number of points on the bench each GW: –

LS – 8.7, NJ – 3.8, MS – 7.8, JD – 6.6, NS – 4.8.

These low scores suggest they put most of their money into the 11 starting playing and cheap cannon-fodder occupies the bench.

The dilemma with having a strong squad, is who to leave out each week?

Leaving any player on the bench who you’d be happy to have in your starting line-up often comes at a price and haunts you when they score handsome points that you’ll never see the benefit of!

Their squad value is higher

Their average squad value is 104.2 million.

The average squad value of players 6 to 50 in the FFUK League is 103.4 million.

This may not seem much but 0.8 million could make all the difference when it comes to swapping out a dud for the next top Pog!

They all have all their Chips and second Wildcard left

Clever and restrained chaps, awaiting double GW’s and blanks no doubt!

They’re good at picking the right Goalie

Successful Goalie selections: –

LS – 75%, NJ – 100%, MS – 75%, JD – 100%, NS – 100%.

The frustration of picking the wrong Goalie is second only to choosing the wrong Captain!

To get a 100% successful Goalie selection is only really achievable by going for the option (A) where you have 1 x expensive (6.0 / 5.5 million) who always plays & 1 x cheap (4.0 million) who never plays goalie! As opposed to option B, where you buy 2 x better than average (4.5 million) goalies. You rotate between the two, based on who’s at home and / or against the weakest opposition.

Option A appears to be the better and less stressful one!

They’ve all mostly selected Aguero as Captain!

MS aside, who has selected Salah mostly as his Captain (9 times), Aguero has been their most popular Captain choice.

Number of times Aguero Captained: –

LS – 10, NJ – 8, MS – 7, JD – 6, NS – 8.

They Mostly have a lot of Liverpool and Chelsea Players in their teams

Selecting players from successful Premiership teams will mean a successful FPL Team, obviously!

The number of players they have selected from each team:-

LS – Liverpool (33), Everton (30), Chelsea (25), Fulham, Bournemouth & Spurs (all 20)

NJ – Liverpool (36), Man City & Everton (both 30), Chelsea (28), Wolves (25)

MS – Chelsea (35), Liverpool (34), West Ham (27), Man City & Wolves (both21)

JD – Man City (45), Liverpool (35), Chelsea (30), Wolves (27), Everton (19)

NS – Chelsea (44), Crystal Palace (29), Man City & Spurs (26), Bournemouth (21)

After Liverpool and Chelsea there are a number of ‘other’ common teams with high representation, most are obvious and expected.

That will likely change though in the future as Man Utd have finally shown up!!

Success comes at a price

Their Most Effective (Pts/GW) & Best Value (Pts/£) players are as follows: –

LS – Kane (13.1) & Aguero (13.6)

NJ – Salah (13.3) & Richarlison (14.1)

MS – Salah (11.7) & Salah (16.7)

JD – Aubameyang (18.0) & Robertson (15.4)

NS – Rashford (12.0) & Alonso (13.7)

Their best players aren’t cheap! They are the higher tariff players in their positions. If you want quality, you’ll have to pay for it; don’t cheap-out and cut corners, you need ‘marque’ signings!

So, what have we learned? What’s the conclusion?

To be in the best position to win FFUK League you should: –

• Pick the safest and most obvious Captain
• Not take ‘HITS’
• Hold onto you Second Wildcard and Chips (for now)
• Play 3-4-3
• Put money into a strong 11
• Not have money or quality on the bench
• Increase your squad value
• Have one playable Goalie
• Have ample Liverpool and Chelsea players
• Not be afraid to purchase a top, top player in each position.
• Never throw in the towel
• Score on average 62 points a week!

Like before, the above is merely sound advice!

The advice is based on the current top players, replicate it or go your own way, but remember…

… there is always more than one way to skin a rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!!!

Stu Allen